Charles Mingus was a jazz icon who helped to redefine the barriers that were inherent for those whose artistic expression was labeled jazz. He was a master bassist in an expressive style that was forced to fight and claw its way to respectability; he crafted challenging and emotional performances in venues where the ring of the cash register competed with his music during performances; and he developed musical techniques that had an immediate impact on American music, though he was never invited to fill any academic post. These contradictions are all brought together in light of his status as a jazz icon. The term jazz represents a paradox because it is the word used to represent a musical style developed in the United States and closely, but not exclusively, tied to the African-American experience. This experience represents triumph, but it also represents many things that were painful and humiliating to all Americans. Any serious study of jazz must visit this paradox. Charles Mingus and the Paradoxical Aspects of Race as Reflected in His Life and Music examines these aspects of the history of jazz using specific parts of Minguss life and by analyzing and comparing some of his works. This dissertation will also examine the social pressures under which Mingus lived and that gave his work direction, and how this direction was expressed in his work.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:PITT/oai:PITTETD:etd-04072007-140228 |
| Date | 21 June 2007 |
| Creators | Horton, Ernest Aaron |
| Contributors | Akin Euba, Laurence Glasco, Mathew Rosenblum, Nathan Davis |
| Publisher | University of Pittsburgh |
| Source Sets | University of Pittsburgh |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.library.pitt.edu/ETD/available/etd-04072007-140228/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to University of Pittsburgh or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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